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Occupy Toronto goes high style with $20,000 yurts

The stylish, ornate yurts, donated by the unions at a cost of $20,000, are a far cry from the flimsy tents where most protesters sleep. A plush, snow-white version is selling at Neiman Marcus right now for $75,000.

Occupy Toronto protesters don't know yet how they will use the largest of three yurts that were donated by unions. (Josh Tapper / Toronto Star)

The yurts have glass-windowed ceiling peaks – although this one is covered by something on the outside – which are propped up by wooden beams, or baagans. (josh tapper / toronto star)

By Josh TapperStaff Reporter

Tues., Nov. 1, 2011

But yurts — insulated felt huts favoured by Turkic nomads in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan — are now also installed in St. James Park, where Occupy Toronto protesters have camped out since mid October.

The huts weren’t cheap either. The unions, including the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, picked up the $20,000 tab. Yurts are en vogue these days: a plush, snow-white version also appears in the chichi Nieman Marcus Christmas catalogue. Price tag for that one is $ 75,000.

With winter fast approaching, the three yurts, erected over the weekend, are meant to provide warmth, shelter and a communal space for the ever-growing tent city in downtown Toronto. Despite their humble nomadic roots, the stylish yurts are a far cry from the chilly tents where most protesters sleep.

Splashed with bright red, orange and blue, the roofs and doors are embroidered and hand-painted with curvy patterns, like the alkhan khee, which represents strength. While Central Asian felt yurts are made of re-purposed sheep wool, these North American iterations are much more advanced. Your average Kyrgyz herder isn’t weathering subzero temperatures with foam thermal sheeting and Plexiglas windows.

One yurt serves as a post office-slash-library, where protesters can borrow titles by Bill Bryson, Al Franken and Canadian journalist Judy Rebick. A how-to guide to yurt building is among the stacks of books.

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A yurt, which roughly means “house” in Turkic languages like Kyrgyz and Kazakh, differs from its Mongolian cousin, the ger. Groovy Yurts, the Quebec-based company that manufactures the houses, produces a sort of yurt-ger hybrid.

It remains to be decided how the largest yurt, next to the food station, will be used. Some proposals include a safe space for women, a general assembly area or a warm place for people to hunker down at night. The last option, though, could pose problems.

“We have to make sure [the yurts are] policed properly so they don’t turn into crack dens,” said Antonin Smith, who works on the Occupy Toronto food team.

The ins and outs of living in a yurt:

Materials: Groovy Yurts are handmade in Mongolia, according to the company’s website. Pieces of wood are latticed together and secured with horse hair to form the walls, which are covered with canvas and insulated with felt. Mongolian gers feature ornate wooden doors; Turkic yurts often use a felt flap. The glass-windowed ceiling peak – toono in Mongolian – is propped up by wooden beams, or baagans.

Design: Dome-shaped and sturdy, Mongolian gers are often embroidered with colourful Buddhist symbols. Kyrgyz and Kazakh versions might have a thatched design, akin to a family crest, in place of the ceiling window. Wong suggested the symbols on the Occupy Toronto yurts represented “peace, love, respect, unity and delicious food.”

Comfort: That’s a matter of debate. Nomads will throw canvas on the ground and drape the floor with blankets, mattresses and cushions. Occupy Toronto yurts are built on wooden platforms.

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